Comparing landscape-based decision rules for placement of fuel treatments in the boreal mixedwood of western Canada
2007
Parisien, Marc-Andre | Junor, David R. | Kafka, Victor G.
The present study used a rule-based approach to prioritise locations of fuel treatments in the boreal mixedwood forest of western Canada. The analysis, which was conducted in and around Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, was based on burn probability (BP) mapping using the Burn-P3 (Probability, Prediction, and Planning) model. Fuel treatment locations were determined according to three rule-sets and five fuel treatment intensities. Fuel treatments were located according to BP only; jurisdictional boundaries and BP; and non-flammable landscape features, BP, and fuel treatment orientation. First, a baseline BP map was created from the original (i.e. unmodified) fuels grid. Fuel treatments were then added to the selected areas and BP maps produced for each combination of rule-set and treatment intensity. BP values for the treated landscapes were compared with those of the baseline BP map. Results varied substantially among scenarios. Locating fuel treatments as a function of the jurisdictional boundaries and BP yielded the lowest reduction in BP. Results suggest that clumping fuel treatments within a limited area or using landscape features to maximise the large-scale spatial benefits of the fuel treatments can significantly reduce landscape-level BP. Although these two strategies may produce similar overall reductions in BP, their appropriateness and utility depend on management objectives.
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